


KING OF MONSTERS

by SkipBack



Series: Zimvoid King AU [5]
Category: Invader Zim
Genre: oh shit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-11
Updated: 2020-06-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:27:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24657562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkipBack/pseuds/SkipBack
Summary: Zib has a chat with his worst fear.
Series: Zimvoid King AU [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1748608
Comments: 2
Kudos: 26





	KING OF MONSTERS

**Author's Note:**

> This is why people in another fandom call me "The Heartwrencher"

The second he forced his eyes open, he could tell something was horribly wrong. 

Firstly, his normally keen ears couldn't pick up any sound. It was as though the sound surrounding him had been muted — there was nothing, nothing, _nothing_. 

Zib forced himself upright, worry prickling at his heart. Unless he had suddenly gone deaf, he should be hearing _something._

"Zim? Can you hear anything?" he asked. 

To his horror, there was no response. 

"Zim? This isn't funny," he tried again. 

No response. 

"'Kay, fine," Zib grumbled, getting to his feet. "If you won't talk to me, I'll find someone who will." Maybe Dib — knowing him, once he started talking, he wouldn't stop. Or Ghost, to see how he was holding up. Or even Gaz, even if she just told him to go way. Really, all Zib wanted was to hear something. 

There was no signs of life around the house. It was fine that Professor Membrane wasn't around that often, but he couldn't find anyone. Not even Ghost, which was weird since he'd literally _just_ built the dog... he had no idea. But he couldn't have been asleep that long. 

Wait... hold on. He paused, his ears catching the sound of someone in the... _the kitchen!_

He tried not to bolt for the kitchen, forcing himself to instead walk at a brisk pace. He was okay, he fine... he totally wasn't creeped out by the fact he couldn't hear the city outside of the house. 

Zib paused in the doorway. He didn't recognize what his eyes were seeing. The thing he saw at the table could only be described as a monster; it had sharp teeth seemingly in the thousands, greenish-gray skin with a paler underside, black hair, obvious pink veins running through its face like spider webs, and wore torn clothes. Well, it only wore a suspiciously familar black coat and torn jeans, so its swollen belly was exposed and hanging out in the open. Zib was pretty sure the thing was going barefoot as well. 

The monster grinned the second it noticed him in the doorway, a horrible smile that made him want to vomit. "Eyyy! I was wondering if you were ever going to wake up," it said, standing up. 

Zib clenched his fists. "Where's my family?" he demanded. 

"Eh. You don't know? You killed 'em all!" the monster said. 

He stayed quiet. 

"Oh, trust me, Number 1. I know which family you're refering to," the beast said, its voice low. "You don't remember? You killed everyone! Decided your little dogbot wasn't fit to live after all." 

"You lie," Zib snarled. He didn't even notice what the monster had called him. 

The monster laughed. "I tell no lies, Number 1! Maybe you don't want to remember. That's why you don't know what you did. Your alternate? Gaz? Your old man? The fish-lookin' guy? Deader than a doorknob. You won't like what I did to clean up your handiwork." It slapped its stomach, its sickening grin practically splitting its face in half. 

"You horrible, disgusting... _thing!_ " he cried. "That's sick!" 

"I wouldn't call it sick," the monster said, stalking over to him so it was towering over him. "I'd call it lunch. Besides, what gives you the right to judge what I did?" 

Zib fumed for a moment. "I'm not the one who _ate_ them!" He jabbed the creature in the stomach. The beast growled and took a step back. 

"That doesn't compare to what _you_ did! Remember what you did to your timeline? You're the reason everyone died in your universe! Heck, you even killed your Zim with your own bare hands! Remember that? You remember how you did it? You strangled him. You went nuts and choked him to death. Wrapped your hands around his green neck and squeezed until he croaked. Just so you could present his corpse to the world." 

Zib shuddered at the memory. 

"And what did it matter?" the monster went on. "All people cared about was the fact you disrupted your own father's keynote... on World Peace Day, no less. So you could show people the body of something they don't believe is real, and wouldn't even try to believe you despite the evidence? The funny thing is... no one even knew it was a corpse. 

"No one knew it that day, but they had a cold-blooded killer on the stage. Someone who wouldn't think twice if it meant getting what you wanted. Someone who would eventually kill them all, and was willing to do it over two thousand more times, for recognition and love and respect. The kind you knew you'd never get, but you convinced yourself, over and over and over again, that it would happen. You'd be loved. You'd finally be the hero. 

"You lured Zims to the remains of your timeline. Your plan was to use them to help you take over the Empire, in every timeline. Your plan was then to use the controlled Armadas to take over every single Earth to ensure their safety, and then once you were sure they were safe, you would finally kill off the ants from outerspace. So what if you destroyed a few timelines in the process? You could afford to lose a few... isn't that right, Number 1? You'd do it again and again until the Irken race was finally gone. You'd be victorious! Isn't that right?" 

"Stop it." Zib's voice was wavering, but the monster's sadistic grin grew ever wider. 

"But what would happen if you kept destroying timelines? You continued to try and perfect your plan... but it was the same result, every time? Eventually, there'd be no one left in the multiverse. No one except you and your failure. No one would be there to recognize you and love you, because you didn't save them. You were the cause of the end of the world, in so many different versions of Earth. 

"You believed you were a hero. But you weren't a hero... were you, Number 1? Tell me... do people start resistances against heroes? Do people stop heroes, and foil their plan? Do heroes choose to commit genocide on an entire race of people, just because they felt one of their dead ruined their life? Do heroes cause the destruction of an entire universe, and risk the destruction of many other universes? No! That's not the role of a hero, Number 1! That's the role of a villain! 

"Oh sure, you think things are different now. Someone felt bad for you, so they came for you and gave you a second chance at a normal life. You've dropped your old plans, and you're trying so hard be happy with this new life of yours... but how can you? There's already a version of you here, one who has yet to be corrupted, and deep down inside your cold black heart, you can't accept this change. You can't be happy with what you're doing, because you're trying to be something you used to be, and not what you are now. 

"You know what you are, Number 1. Your alternate knows too, doesn't he? He knows exactly what you are. He pretends not to fear you, and you know this, don't you? The truth of it eats you up inside, doesn't it? People don't fear the hero, Number 1. People fear monsters and maniacs. All you did was prove to him that he has a reason to fear you. " 

At this point, Zib was trembling, tears in his eyes. "S-stop..." He hiccuped. "D-don't.. don't call me that." 

The monster paused, then threw its head back and roared with laughter. "That's rich," it eventually said, wiping a tear from one of its yellowed eyes. "First don't call you 'Zib', now don't call you 'Number 1'? It's just a same face with a different name, _Number 1_. It's exactly what I've been telling you — you think you've changed, but you're exactly the same and you know it. You're not a hero, Number 1. I know what you are." 

"Who... who are _you?_ " Zib eventually whispered. 

The monster blinked. "Who am I?" it repeated. "Really? You honestly have no idea who I am? Maybe you just don't recognize me." Zib's heart dropped into his stomach as the thing turned its head to the side, giving him a view of the back of its head. "How about now? You know who I am now?" 

"No..." Zib said, his legs giving out. He fell against the doorframe, the blood draining from his face. It couldn't be. It just couldn't! 

But it was, despite how much he wanted to believe it wasn't. 

"You're a monster, Number 1," the thing before him said. "I know you are." 

Its smile widened, seemingly thousands upon thousands of teeth bared, insanity flashing in its eyes. 

"You want to know how I know that?" 

He couldn't move, couldn't breathe, couldn't think. He was frozen, helpless as four spindly limbs were poised directly for him. 

"I know... because I _am_ you." 

Zib opened his mouth to scream, but before he could utter a word, a metallic leg shot out and sliced through his throat. All that came out of his mouth now was hot, bubbling blood. Zib clutched at his throat, collasping to his knees. He couldn't see through the tears in his eyes, and he was struggling to breathe. 

He tried to ask the monster why, but the word only came out as a gurgling noise. 

The monster that was supposed to be him reached around behind his head, and his eyes widened just seconds before he felt the PAK being ripped straight out. His vision flashed red, and he found himself laying flat on the ground, shaking and sobbing. He couldn't move. Blood poured down the sides of his face, mixing with his tears, pooling around him. 

He heard a sound similar to a car being crushed, and the PAK was dropped in front of him, destroyed. Zib stretched out an arm, trying to reach it, trying to grab it. His claws brushed against it, just a little too far out of reach. He almost had it, but instead of pulling it closer, he ended up pushing it away. Zib wasn't sure why, but to be seperated from his PAK like this broke his heart, and his body shook as it was wracked with heavy sobs, tears streaming down his cheeks like waterfalls. 

The monster stomped on his back, and he screamed as he felt his spine break in half. His head was throbbing, and he couldn't feel his legs. He wanted to pull himself into a ball, but couldn't. 

"...why?" he tried again. It came out as a word this time, but it was still gurgly. 

The monster gripped the back of his head, sinking its claws in enough to draw more blood. It lifted him up off the ground, looking him dead in the eye. 

"This is what monsters do, isn't it?" it asked calmly. "Ruin the lives of others? Give them a reason to be afraid? And besides..." 

A biomechanical leg shot through his chest, piercing through his heart. 

"There can only be one Number 1." 

... 

Vaguely aware he was drenched in sweat, Zib futilely clawed at the blanket wrapped around him. His heart racing, sobbing and gasping, it took him a minute to realize he'd been dreaming... or, to put it more accurately, having a nightmare. Sighing with bittersweet relief, Zib went limp and closed his eyes, trying to get his breathing under control. 

_"...is..."_ Zim awkwardly started, keeping his voice down. _"Is everything alright? Someone would have thought you were being murdered by a snarkle!"_

_You're a monster. Someone who wouldn't think twice if it meant getting what you wanted._

Zib swallowed. "Bad dream," he muttered. "Really bad dream." 

_"Just how bad?"_ Zim asked. _"On a scale of one to ten. Answer truthfully. I'll know when you're lying, stinkbug."_

"I dunno... at least a three hundred," Zib replied. 

Zim hissed, and Zib had the mental image of him wincing. _"That bad, eh?"_

_This is what monsters do, isn't it? Ruin the lives of others? Give them a reason to be afraid?_

Zib remembered the pure, boiling rage coursing through his body, the overwhelming urge to sink his claws into his alternate's wrist. He remembered Dib's eyes had been wide with terror, that his voice had shook when he spoke. He'd only wanted to know if he was alright... 

_That's not the role of a hero, Number 1! That's the role of a villain!_

How terrified of him had Dib been? 

Did... did Dib view him as a monster? 

"Yeah," Zib eventually said, poking a hand out of his blanket to sink his claws into his pillow, his heart aching. "That bad."

**Author's Note:**

> WE ARE NUMBER ONE- 
> 
> I hope you guys realize that this still isn't the worst of what I can do. We only gettin' started! So that's why I'm pleased to announce, along with the name change to Zimvoid King ARC to Zimvoid King AU, that coming up next is a real bona fide arc! 
> 
> Five chapters, all of them as lengthy as I can manage. The Zimvoid King AU has picked up a real-ass goddamn storyline! I think! I'm still figuring it out! Y'all better hold on tight, because this puppy is pure unfiltered angst from yours truly. 
> 
> It's edgy. 
> 
> It's angsty. 
> 
> It's heartwrenching. 
> 
> Is it being overhyped? You bet your sweetest tooth it is! 
> 
> It's the _Bloodbath_ arc, coming to an Archive near you! 
> 
> Ciao for now!


End file.
